![]() The defense can jump to create a five-man attack at opportune moments, but the team could use more of an offensive jump-start from the back end. The Adam Pelech-Ryan Pulock first pair will be tested by the Tampa Bay first-line’s pace and talent. Those are the winning types of plays he and his blue-line mates have been able to make while generally receiving much support from the forward group. Scott Mayfield pretty much held off three forechecking Flyers by himself in pinning the puck against the boards for the final 21 seconds of Game 3’s 3-2 victory. Steven Stamkos, who underwent core surgery in March and has not played yet in the tournament, was ruled out of the series on Sunday by head coach Jon Cooper. It is an eclectic group that tends toward pugnacious puck possession. The swarm of remaining forwards include Tyler Johnson, Alex Killorn, Pat Maroon, Anthony Cirelli and Cedric Paquette. We’ll see if Trotz can upset the match and get Barzal out against Point, who leads Tampa Bay with 18 points (6-12), and his dangerous wingers. That unit limited the Bruins’ Brad Marchand-Patrice Bergeron-David Pastrnak line to a sum of two five-on-five goals in the series. 1 unit, instead going generally with the Blake Coleman-Yanni Gourde-Barclay Goodrow unit as the shutdown match. The Lightning generally don’t match their Ondrej Palat-Brayden Point-Nikita Kucherov top line against the opposition’s No. Eberle had a shooting percentage of 11.8 this year and finished the season with a career 13.1.īut he has scored three goals on 39 shots in the tournament (7.7 percent) on 55 scoring chances, 22 of them designated as high-danger chances by Natural Stat Trick. And that was with first-line right winger Jordan Eberle failing to score on 22 shots despite having an abundance of glorious opportunities. Meanwhile, the Islanders scored three or four goals in each of the seven games against the Flyers for a sum of 24. Derick Brassard, in his fourth conference final over the last seven years (Rangers in 20, Ottawa in 2017), has stepped up and the Matt Martin-Casey Cizikas-Cal Clutterbuck line continues to form the base of the team’s blue-collar identity. Bailey has been a revelation with the puck. The Islanders are capable of scoring the ugly goals from dirty areas that are necessary to win playoff games but can produce pretty goals, too, when their skilled forwards get into open ice and have some time to create. The Islanders have been left out in the cold for most of the last three decades. The Lightning have been knocking on the door since the middle of the last decade. Both rely on defensive-zone structure, though no one on the Long Island side can match the edifice that is Victor Hedman. Both seek to apply forecheck pressure and own the offensive zones below the hash marks. Both go four-lines deep (even if the Lightning generally dress 11 forwards). But much of that might change once the international spotlight is shined on Mat Barzal, who has proved ready for his closeup, and on the less dazzling but equally effective Anders Lee, Brock Nelson and Josh Bailey.īut the approaches of these teams are reasonably similar. ![]() There is more familiarity with Tampa Bay’s marquee names. There is more star power on the Tampa Bay side of this series that commences Monday night under the Edmonton bubble following the Lightning and Islanders exits from Toronto over the weekend. Now the team has the opportunity to prove it. In the year of 2020, the Islanders are as credible a Stanley Cup challenger as are their opponents. ![]() One side has Lou Lamoriello in the executive suite and Barry Trotz behind the bench. We can stipulate that the Islanders have not been all that, with this appearance in the tournament’s final four marking the first since 1993.īut make no mistake. The Lightning have hovered among the NHL’s elite for more than a half-decade, this the team’s fourth appearance in the Eastern Conference finals over the last six years. ![]() Oilers as ex-Rangers AHL coach wins debut Islanders doomed by woeful third period vs. Islanders vet returns to face Canucks for first time since stinging commentsįormer Islanders star 'honored' as he enters Hockey Hall of Fame ![]() Islanders coach searching for answers during recent cold spell ![]()
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